UK vineyard & winery tour at Stanlake Park, Berks
Stanlake Park Wine Estate and the 17th century winery barn and clock tower - Source: Wine Keller
Wine tasting in Berkshire - Why visit Stanlake Park?
Stanlake Park Wine Estate in Twyford is in the county of Berkshire and part of the Thames & Chilterns UK wine region. It is in fact one of the oldest English wine producers and the largest vineyard in Berkshire.
Stanlake Park has its own winery on the estate, as well as a gift shop and beautiful wine bar and garden, which makes a wine tour here a really comprehensive wine experience!
What’s not to like?
Located just 15 minutes from where we live, this was always high on our list to explore!
For those travelling from further afield, its location near the beautiful River Thames villages of Marlow and Henley, and of course, Royal Windsor, makes Stanlake Park the perfect wine travel destination!
Read on to discover more about this beautiful wine estate, our wine tour experience and their wines!
What is Stanlake Park Wine Estate?
This stunning, privately owned 150 acre estate, nestled in the East Berkshire countryside, is made up of secluded gardens, 10 acres of vineyards, the winery, shop and wine garden. Its beautiful setting, rich history and protected buildings provides a magnificent setting for weddings, events and of course wine tourism. It is steeped in history and character, which is perhaps what sets it apart from many other vineyards.
The beginnings of the estate date back to 1166 when the land was held by Patrick Earl of Salisbury, becoming known as Stanlake Park in the 15th century. Over the centuries the estate enjoyed a strong connection with royalty, due to its proximity to Windsor Castle and it has a rich and fascinating history - read more about it here.
The beautiful estate at Stanlake Park - Source: Wine Keller
Stanlake Park vineyards
Wine has been produced on this site since 1979, when the first test vineyards were planted under the stewardship of then owner Jon Leighton. Many of the vines today are these original ones and are over 40 years old.
The original vineyard was known as Thames Valley Vineyard, but was later renamed after the Stanlake Park estate itself.
The current owners of the estate could see the potential of the estate, not just for winemaking, but also for wine tourism and so set out to find the right team to lead and grow the wine business.
Today, the responsibility for the wine falls to winemaker Nico Centonze, an Italian with many years experience developed in Europe and Argentina. Nico’s partner Natalia Pezzone, leads the sales, marketing and wine tours. Read about their story here..
Stanlake Park Berkshire wines
Today the vineyards cover over 10 acres, with approximately 10,000 vines planted. This produces up to 50,000 bottles in a good year.
Stanlake Park grows a large number of types of grapes which suit the UK climate, including Bacchus, Schönburger, Madeleine Angevine, Seyval blanc, Triomphe d'Alsace, Gewürztraminer, Ortega, Dornfelder, Siegerebbe, Optima, Pinot Grigio and the classic Champagne varieties Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay.
Unlike many other UK vineyards Stanlake produces a wide range of wines, including white, rosé, red and sparkling wine.
A lot of Stanlake wines have received recognition at prestigious wine awards - see below.
Where to buy wines from Stanlake Park:
You used to be able to purchase Stanlake Park wines at Waitrose, but the main channels now are via Stanlake’s own website, direct from the cellar door and in the Stanlake wine bar and garden and through some smaller, local independent wine shops. The success of Stanlake’s marketing over the last year or so - and of course the recent Covid lockdowns - has meant that more people are turning to purchasing their wines online and direct.
Our afternoon wine tour to Stanlake Park
As Stanlake Park is situated so close to us, we decided to book an afternoon wine tour and allocate some time after the 2 hour tour to relax in the wine garden!
Stanlake is tucked away in the East Berkshire countryside, but conveniently close to the busy towns of Reading, Windsor and Maidenhead. If you want to make a day of it, see later for recommendations of places close by to Stanlake, which you could visit, or restaurants and pubs you could book for lunch or dinner.
Vineyard tour and wine tasting
We started our tour with a refreshing glass of Stanlake’s Heritage Brut sparkling wine which was lovely! We then wandered over to one of the vineyards where our guide gave us some background information about the estate, the vineyards and the vines.
We learned about the many challenges faced by the English winemaker, including frost, mildew and over-zealous birds and wasps!
All grapes are picked and harvested by hand and at every stage of the grape growing and winemaking process, intervention is minimised, to allow the end product to be as natural as possible.
During this time we had the opportunity to taste two of Stanlake’s white wines: the best-selling Bacchus, a refreshing sauvignon blanc-style wine and winner of many awards including silver in the 2020 London Wine Competition and the Regatta, named after Henley Regatta, which takes place near to Stanlake each year.
We were surprised to be honest by the quality of these still white wines. We hadn’t had the opportunity to taste many English still wines as sparkling is the predominant style, but we liked them. Not amongst our favourites when compared to other European white wine styles, but nevertheless, good.
The winery tour
Our tour continued into the winery, which is the largest winery in Berkshire and where not just Stanlake grapes are turned into wine, but the grapes of other vineyards too. Winemaking at Stanlake takes place within a 17th Century Reformation barn, capable of handling over 200 tonnes of fruit in any one season.
It was fascinating to learn how and where the grapes are pressed and turned into grape juice, then wine and to learn about the fermentation and ageing process. Particularly interesting was to be told and shown in detail how the sparkling wine is made here by the traditional method for English sparkling wine, i.e. the champagne method. The wine is aged for two years after a second fermentation in the bottle, and further matured in the cellars before releasing.
During our visit to the winery we enjoyed a further wine tasting - the lovely, award-winning rosé, made from pinot noir grapes (the 2020 vintage was the only English rosé wine awarded at the prestigious international competition Global Rosé Masters 2021), as well as the sparkling Superior Rosé.
Finally we were led into the bottling and packaging area where we discovered how Stanlake can now produce 3-4,000 bottles per day with its new bottling machine and we learned the background to the stunning new bottle packaging, themed around flowers found on the estate. Here we also enjoyed our final tasting, a delicious, fruity English red wine, The Reserve, made with mature Dornfelder grapes.
From here we wandered into the wine garden to purchase and taste another of their acclaimed white wines - a chardonnay and ortega blend, aged for 2 years in pack barrels - the King's Fumé named in honour of King Charles 1st who donated a special window dated 1626 in Stanlake Park Wine Estate!
And then we enjoyed a lovely cup of tea!!!!
Useful information for your Stanlake Park vineyard and winery visit
Wine tours and wine tasting options
The wine tours cost £20 per person and you need to book directly via the website. For this you get a comprehensive vineyard and winery tour and 6 tasting wines are included - so agree in advance who the nominated driver is!
For a bit extra you can book on a wine and cheese tasting tour.
What to see and do in the area
There’s lots to recommend in the area around Twyford, starting with a visit to Windsor and Windsor Castle.
A visit to nearby Henley-on-Thames is a must - even if not’s Royal Regatta time or Henley music festival! Henley is a beautiful riverside town and in addition to lovely walks by the river there are some good shops to browse around in the town. Similarly the nearby Georgian market town of Marlow is a great option for browsing lovely independent shops in the quaint high street and walking in the park and by the River Thames.
A riverboat cruise is always a good bet - see here for ideas.
The county capital of Reading isn’t far away if you are looking for a bigger choice of shops and restaurants.
Visit the South East England tourist website for more ideas!
Where to stay and where to eat near Twyford
If you fancy a spot of lunch there are many excellent options in the area - especially if you are a foodie and love to discover something new or special.
At the top end of the list is a visit to the quaint riverside village of Bray, just 20 minutes from Twyford, gastronomic paradise and home of celebrated chefs, Heston Blumenthal, Alain Roux and Giancarlo Caldesi. In fact 2 of Britain’s 5 3-star Michelin restaurants are located here! Choose from the famous Fat Duck for the food experience of a lifetime as well as The Hinds Head and The Crown gastropubs, all under Heston Blumenthal. Then you have the equally famous and prestigious Waterside Inn where you can enjoy the best of French cuisine by Alain Roux (they also have 12 bedrooms) and for those who favour the best of Italian cuisine there is Caldesi In Campagna.
Another option, again just 20-30 minutes away and great for a meal and/or overnight accommodation, is Oakley Court, a stunning Victorian Gothic Mansion House recently renovated and set in 35 acres overlooking the River Thames, close to Windsor and Eton.
For something closer to Stanlake we would recommend the Beehive pub and restaurant in the beautiful village of White Waltham - a wonderful village pub overlooking the village cricket ground and famous in the area for its home-cooked food and hospitality.
Also close to Stanlake in the village of Waltham St Lawrence is The Bell, an historic ale house and restaurant.
There are lots of ‘chain’ accommodation options in the area, but if you’re looking for something a bit different and fancy a treat, try Fredricks Hotel, Restaurant & Spa, in nearby Maidenhead. Maidenhead golf club is just down the road too, if you fancy fitting in a round of golf too!
Stanlake also lists recommendations of where to stay on their website - so check that out too!
Transport
Stanlake Park has a large car-park, and is also a 15 minute walk from Twyford mainline station. Trains run regularly from Reading, Maidenhead and beyond.
If travelling by car, the closest motorway is the M4 - junction 8/9 - approximately 30/45 minutes from London, traffic depending.
Address: Stanlake Park Wine Estate, Waltham Rd, Twyford, Reading RG10 0BN
Other UK vineyards to visit in the area:
If you are planning a wine tour of the Thames & Chilterns region and would like to visit more than the one vineyard, we would recommend any of the vineyards mentioned here - but if you want something as close as possible to Stanlake then try:
Conclusion
We thoroughly enjoyed our vineyard and winery tour at Stanlake Park. The guide was excellent and the 2 hour tour informative, comprehensive, relaxed and fun. It was great to get the chance to taste a broader range of English wines and we thought having 6 wines to taste represented excellent value for money.
It was lovely to be able to sit in the wine garden afterwards and have the option to have something to eat, however there’s lots of excellent choices in the area for including a meal in your day out!
Stanlake Park is a great example of a vineyard looking to expand its offer and interaction with customers through wine tourism and it does it well!
Visit Stanlake Park’s website for information and to book your visit.
Refer to our web pages for more information about UK wine tours and the Thames & Chilterns UK wine region.
We hope you get the chance to visit Stanlake and enjoy it as much as we did!
